Asparagus arrival

Oh my! The asparagus is coming up. I planted 25 crowns three years ago and have eagerly anticipated being able to eat as much asparagus as I can. Last year provided a good-size crop and I bet this year will be splendiferous! Today’s three spears will probably be part of tomorrow’s omelette.

This morning I held another team meeting with the Deva of the Garden, etc. to fine-tune which vegetables are to be planted in which beds this season. After that, I began the process of discovering how each bed was to be planted (which plants go in rows–or sections–and how much of a row or how many locations for each type of vegetable). This year I have 26 vegetable beds (ranging in length from four to ten feet).

With the somewhat warmer weather which just became “hot” weather for a few days, my desire to begin the spring planting grew stronger and stronger. Today I was able to begin that “task” as I planted some peas, lettuce and kale.

This photo illustrates a typical vegetable bed I planted today–with some plants that survived the winter. The box in the background holds the poker chips which I use to mark row locations and specific plants within a bed.

When I pulled back the thick straw blanket as I prepared a vegetable bed for new seeds, I found thriving carrots which did well during our snowy winter.

I also discovered some amazing new blooms today. The almond tree I planted last year is in full bloom and both the purple and white violets are fully out.

I looked for the filbert blossoms again. Only a couple male catkins remained on the tree. I am grateful I was able to capture a photo of this female flower on the filbert a few days ago.

And a quick update on the frog eggs turned tadpoles. . . The egg masses are nearly empty now. And the tiny tadpoles are somewhat less tiny (but no less difficult to capture in a photo).